1671 people early voted at Octavia Fields library

Pam Gibbens

Published 6:00 pm, Wednesday, October 30, 2002

As of Oct. 27, 2,899 people voted in Kingwood," said Kaufman. "At the Octavia Fields location in Humble, 1,761 people voted. Kingwood is not the highest, though. The highest number came from the Metro location on West Gray with 4,877 early votes cast. The second highest is the Cypress Creek location with 4,719 people who voted as of Sunday afternoon."

After the polls closed on Sunday, a total of 62,324 voters cast their ballots, said Kaufman. Of the 39,654 ballots mailed to voters, only 5,705 have been returned to Kaufman's office. Including in-person and mailed ballots, a grand total of 101,978 people have voted early. Harris County has 1,902,561 registered voters.

Interest in this election is due in part to the new eSlate voting system, said Kaufman.

"Things have gone very well, so far," Kaufman noted. "Now we have to see if the numbers will roll over to the election on Nov. 5."

Early voting numbers typically reflect 25 percent of the total number of ballots cast.

"That number is usually multiplied times four to get an estimate of the total number of people who will vote in the election," she noted.

Tony Geldens, a Kingwood resident and volunteer working the polls at Houston Fire Station 102, reported heavy voting on Sunday, Oct. 28. A continuous stream of cars kept the parking lot and voting booths full, said Geldens.

By the time polls closed on Oct. 27, 2,899 people took advantage of early voting at the Kingwood location. Geldens noted that the number of early voters was averaging 200 a day. On Sunday, with polls only open in the afternoon, almost 700 residents voted.

Early voting continues through Nov. 1. Election Day is November 5. Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Polls are located at Octavia Fields Branch Library at 1503 S. Houston Ave. in Humble and at Fire Station 102 at 4102 West Lake Houston Parkway in Kingwood.

For more information visit www.harrisvotes.org or call the county clerks office at 713-222-1600.

For candidate information, download the voting guide published by the League of Women Voters. Visit the Web site at www.lwvtexas.org.